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A courtroom sketch of the Derick Almena, top left, as he answers questions from his Defense Attorney Tony Serra, top center, as Judge Trina Thompson, top right, listens on at the René C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, July 8, 2019. Almena faces involuntary manslaughter charges stemming from the 2016 Ghost Ship blaze that killed 36 people during a music show.

A courtroom sketch of the Derick Almena, top left, as he answers questions from his Defense Attorney Tony Serra, top center, as Judge Trina Thompson, top right, listens on at the René C. Davidson Courthouse in

A courtroom sketch of the Derick Almena, top left, as he answers questions from his Defense Attorney Tony Serra, top center, as Judge Trina Thompson, top right, listens on at the René C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, July 8, 2019. Almena faces involuntary manslaughter charges stemming from the 2016 Ghost Ship blaze that killed 36 people during a music show.

A courtroom sketch of the Derick Almena, top left, as he answers questions from his Defense Attorney Tony Serra, top center, as Judge Trina Thompson, top right, listens on at the René C. Davidson Courthouse in

Jurors in the Ghost Ship criminal case were slated to spend Wednesday listening to testimony from three key witnesses who took the stand during the trial, but later opted not to rehear sworn statements from one of the two defendants, Derick Almena.

The jury’s request Tuesday to hear this testimony was the case’s biggest development in the two weeks since they began deliberations. During this time, defense attorneys and family members of victims in the deadly Ghost Ship warehouse fire have taken to reading any overture from the jury as a clue to the defendants’ innocence or guilt.

In the meantime, Almena, 49, and his 29-year-old co-defendant, Max Harris, remain in jail after being charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter, one for each of the victims who died in the Dec. 2, 2016, blaze in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood. Almena and Harris each face up to 39 years in prison if convicted.

On Tuesday afternoon, jurors asked to review the testimony of Almena, as well as witnesses Nico Bouchard and Ryan O’Keefe. The testimony would be read back to them by the court reporter, and include statements from all four days that Almena was on stand.

“It’s a good sign that they want my client’s words,” Almena’s lead defense attorney, Tony Serra, said early Wednesday afternoon. “From a defense point of view, (jurors) hearing your clients’ testimony right before deciding ... that, here, is a positive.”

But Serra’s “guarded optimism” transformed into “guarded pessimism” by the end of the day, after jurors said they may not be hearing Almena’s testimony after all. Jurors passed on a note that they may request just some portions be read to them if necessary.

“I think they’re about ready to make a decision,” Serra said. “Because I think they have enough, in their minds, about my client’s testimony.”

On Tuesday afternoon, Curtis Briggs, Harris’ lead defense attorney, took a sunny view of the jurors’ request for testimony to be read back. “This jury is deeply deliberating, taking this job very seriously,” he said.

Briggs also said that he was heartened that jurors asked for Almena’s testimony, but not his client’s, adding that he’s been getting positive vibes from jurors, and even a few smiles from them.

“That shows us that Mr. Harris is in good hands,” Briggs said.

Jury deliberations are closely guarded secrets, of course, and any speculation prior to a verdict is just that.

David Gregory, father of fire victim Michela Gregory, called the two-week wait “torture” after attending nearly all three months of trial testimony.

“It makes me very nervous, anxious, to find out what these jurors are thinking,” he said. “What’s taking so long? Is it positive? Negative? I don’t know. I don’t know what to think.”

The wait makes Gregory nervous that Almena and Harris won’t be held responsible. There’s a lot the jury doesn’t know, Gregory said, like how both men pleaded no contest to the charges last year and were willing to spend years in prison before a judge tossed the deal.

“I was hoping it would be over by now,” Gregory said. “All of us were.”

Prosecutors declined to comment on jury deliberations or whether they will refile charges if the trial ends with a hung jury.

Bouchard, who co-signed the warehouse lease with Almena in late 2013, testified that he soon distanced himself from the agreement because of Almena’s casual attitude toward safety. He said Almena “scoffed” at suggestions to keep the space up to code.

O’Keefe helped collect money for the Ghost Ship’s music show the night of the fire, and he testified that he never heard evidence of anyone throwing a Molotov cocktail in the building. The testimony was a blow to the defense’s theory that arsonists ignited the deadly blaze.

Almena, master tenant of the Ghost Ship warehouse and artists’ collective, is accused of illegally converting a storage area to living quarters, as well as ignoring fire codes and warnings that the space was hazardous. Harris, a tenant prosecutors describe as Almena’s right-hand man, is accused of helping to plan an electronic music party the night of the fire.

Together, prosecutors alleged, the two men knowingly packed dozens of people into a tinderbox.

Defense attorneys maintain that their clients were scapegoats for a city potentially staring down millions of dollars in damages in the Ghost Ship civil suit. Throughout the trial, they pointed out that several police and fire officials testified that they saw no cause for concern in the warehouse, and these individuals were clearly better trained to spot hazards than the artists.